


Ninette Week 2018

by enbyred



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Awkward Flirting, Awkward Romance, Blushing, F/M, Fluff, Fluff without Plot, Hurt/Comfort, Near Death Experiences, Ninette Week, Rare Pairings, Romance, only for one chapter though
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-01
Updated: 2018-07-07
Packaged: 2019-05-31 22:25:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 6,729
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15129080
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/enbyred/pseuds/enbyred
Summary: 7 drabbles/one-shots of Marinette and Nino.





	1. Sweet

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nino brings candy for the class.

Nino pushed the door to the classroom open and backed in, carrying a large cardboard box. He was grinning ear to ear as the class looked at him confusedly.

“I brought candy for everyone,” he announced, holding the box out to Adrien, whose face lit up as he plucked out a few pieces of candy. Nino grabbed two pieces for himself and pocketed them before moving to Chloe and Sabrina.

Chloe glanced into the box and turned her nose up at it, stating, “I don’t  _ do _ candy. Bring in some pastries next time--only the best quality.” Sabrina quietly took her favorite candy and Nino continued up to Alix and Mylene, unfazed by Chloe’s attitude. He picked out another thing for himself. When he reached Marinette and Alya, he gave one of his signature grins.

“What’s the occasion?” Alya asked, peeking in the box to find what she wanted.

“My birthday,” Nino replied happily. Before anyone could stammer that they didn’t know, that they would have gotten him something, he said, “The best gift I could have for my birthday is making everyone happy. Speaking of.” He reached into his pocket and extracted a few pieces of calisson, holding them out to Marinette. “I remember you said they were your favorite. Wanted to make sure you got some.”

Marinette took the candy speechlessly, unable to form a sentence of gratitude. He simply moved on to offer candy to an excited Ivan.

“So  _ sweet _ ,” Marinette squeaked out, covering her face with her hands.

Unwrapping her own candy, Alya asked, “The calisson or Nino?”

Marinette glanced over her shoulder to watch as Nino laughed at a dumb joke Kim made. The way he closed his eyes, his shoulders shook, the way he let himself be completely overtaken by laughter, content to be making other people happy on his birthday. She couldn’t even remember a time she had said what her favorite candy was, but Nino remembered anyway.

“Both,” Marinette sighed, picking up the calisson, hoping she wasn’t as red as she felt.


	2. Text Messages

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nino asks Marinette her opinion on his new mix.

Glancing anxiously at the time, Nino pressed send on the mix. He knew that Marinette usually went to bed early, but he wasn’t sure if that meant ‘early for teenagers,’ or ‘8pm.’ Even if she was asleep, he didn’t need a response immediately--and he had promised he’d send it to her the moment it was done. He just hoped that he wouldn’t wake her up.

A few minutes later, his phone chimed.

**_Marinette D-C:_ ** _ Sounds awesome! Your mixes just keep getting better and better! _

She punctuated the end of the text with a pink flower emoji, her favorite. Nino smiled softly to himself as he replied.

**_DJ Nino:_ ** _ thanks, i’m proud of this one. ♫ think it’s dope enough to use as an application to a summer music production program? _

**_Marinette D-C:_ ** _!!!! Yes!! Let me listen to it again in the morning, I want to help you make sure it’s perfect. I mean, I already think it’s perfect, but let’s look at different aspects of it during lunch tomorrow! _

She added three emojis to the end of that one: a plate of food, a ‘yum’ face, and her flower. Nino closed his eyes and held his phone to his forehead, grinning giddily. She was already cute in person, but with her emojis and perfectly conveying her enthusiasm over text, he got a visual representation that made her even cuter.

**_DJ Nino:_ ** _ you’re the best, m. hope i didn’t wake you. _

**_Marinette D-C:_ ** _ You didn’t. And even if you had, I’d gladly wake up for my favorite musician! ♪ _

Nino locked his phone and rolled over onto his stomach, burying his face in his pillow as he made high-pitched squeaks about how cute she was.

“I’m her favorite musician,” he whispered to himself. Even if she didn’t mean it--with her love of Jagged Stone and Clara Nightingale, it wasn’t likely--it still meant the world to him. But if she did mean it…. He pulled his blankets up over his head and sighed.


	3. Music

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marinette gets back to school early from lunch and hears someone playing piano in a music room.

With a lull in Akumas, Marinette was revelling in her newfound free time. She only took ten minutes to eat lunch, and took her time walking back to school, yet she still made it back twenty minutes early. Sitting by the lockers wouldn’t do, especially if someone came in and discovered her talking with Tikki, so she chose to wander the halls instead.

“It’s getting weird that there haven’t been any Akumas,” she told Tikki, keeping her voice low in case anyone else was around. “It’s been, like, almost two weeks.”

Tikki floated up to sit on Marinette’s shoulder. “Well, that’s a good thing! Maybe Hawk Moth decided that he doesn’t want to be a villain anymore. Either way, enjoy it!”

Smiling, Marinette replied, “I guess.” She stopped short, looking around the hallway, trying to find the source of an unexpected sound. “Did you hear that?” Tikki listened closely with her, and they made out the faint sound of a piano. The heroine and kwami exchanged a look before Marinette continued tiptoeing down the hall, searching for whoever was playing.

As they got closer to the source of the music, Tikki settled back down in Marinette’s purse, peeking out from the top while they approached a room. The door was ajar, letting Marinette see a red-capped boy with his back to the door, intensely studying the sheet music in front of him.

“Nino!” Marinette exclaimed, throwing the door open and stepping into the room. He jumped and yelled in surprise, falling backwards off the piano bench. Her excitement immediately turned to worry, rushing to him on the floor.

“What’s up, Marinette,” he chuckled, propping himself up on one elbow, wincing at the other one.

Marinette groaned. “Oh, I’m so sorry, I shouldn’t have come in so loudly. Are you okay?”

He nodded, sitting up. “Yeah, I’m good. Just didn’t expect anyone else to be at school, you know?”

“Yeah.” She helped him to his feet and restrained herself from fussing over him to make sure he was really alright. “What are you doing here? I mean, I got back early from lunch, so I was just walking around. I, uh...didn’t know you played piano.” She gestured vaguely toward the piano.

Nino glanced at the sheet music and shrugged. “Not much. I’m trying to learn, expand my knowledge of music. I’ve been bringing my lunch to school and practicing here.”

Giving him an encouraging smile, Marinette said, “You can play for me if you want. You don’t have to, but I’d love to hear it.”

He perked up, just a bit, and replied, “Uh, yeah, I’ll play for you.” He slipped back onto the piano bench and invited Marinette to sit with him. “I can really only play one song well so far.”

“That’s alright,” she assured him. “You play more than I do.”

Nino placed his fingers on the keys and began playing light, cheerful chords. The tune was so happy and playful that Marinette couldn’t help but sway along to it, grinning.

To her surprise, Nino sang along softly.

“ _ Lucky I’m in love with my best friend, lucky to have been where I have been, lucky to be coming home again. Lucky we’re in love in every way, lucky to have stayed where we have stayed, lucky to be coming home someday… _ ”

When he finished, Marinette praised, “That’s such a cute song! What made you want to learn that one?” She looked at him with wide, expectant eyes.

He rubbed the back of his neck and averted eye contact. “Uh...it’s a little dumb. I...the next time Ladybug and Chat Noir are fighting near my house, honestly, I want to open my window and play this for them as loud as I can. All of Paris is just waiting for them to get together, and without Akumas lately, I have time to prepare.”

“Oh!” Marinette put her hand up to her cheek, hoping to cover any blush that could possibly have spread. “They, um...might get distracted from hero work if you’re playing something for them. But it’s great!” She wasn’t sure how to tell poor Nino that half of his ship was sitting next to him, much more interested in the amateur DJ/musician than a dork running around Paris in a leather catsuit.

“Anyway,” Nino said, gathering up his music, “lunch is almost over. I need to stop by my locker before class.” With a smile, he asked, “Walk with me?”

That smile could have melted her on the spot. She nodded and they walked down the hall together, not quite ready to rejoin all their friends.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's a link to the song Nino's playing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LQCY2zL0Jr8


	4. Miraculous

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nino and Marinette keep missing each other's calls.

After dropping down to the ground in an alley, Carapace released his transformation and sighed, leaning against the wall to rest from the Akuma attack they had just wrapped up. He rummaged through his backpack for celery and gave it to Wayzz, letting him eat while he checked his phone. He had one voicemail and three texts.

“ _ Hey Nino, um, it’s Marinette. I was just wondering if you wanted to, uh...actually, could you just call me back? No rush, take your time, but I’d...I’d be happy if you called me back. Okay, um...talk to you later, then. _ ”

She sounded anxious. If there wasn’t a rush, then it couldn’t be a problem she needed immediate help with, but her tone of voice made him think that there was some sort of dilemma. He would call her back in a minute, after he looked at the texts he’d gotten. Two were from his mother--he had to assure her that he was perfectly safe, that he had been nowhere near the Akuma attack (which was very much not true). The last one was a meme from Adrien. He replied in turn with another meme.

When Wayzz was re-energized and Nino had caught up on his messages, the two left the alley and started heading home. It wasn’t until he was at home early in the evening touching his mix a final time to send it to the music production program did he remember to call Marinette back.

- - -

Ladybug flopped on her back, staring up at the night sky, and groaned loudly.

“Kitty,” she said, “if I call a boy, he doesn’t pick up, I leave a message asking him to call me back, and he  _ doesn’t _ , what do I do? Does he hate me?”

“Whoa,” Chat Noir laughed, laying next to her. “He probably forgot, Bug. Have you texted him?” Raising his eyebrows flirtatiously, he asked, “Unless it’s me you’re talking about?”

She giggled and replied, “No, it’s a boy in my class. We’ve been friends for a long time, but lately...I’ve started seeing him differently, you know?”

Chat nodded slowly. “Yeah, I think I know what you mean. I get how that would make you more nervous about him calling you back, but remember what year it is. Kids our age hate talking on the phone.”

“Yeah. I guess.”

A few minutes of silence passed before Ladybug stood.

“Thanks for the bit of advice, Chat Noir,” she said, helping him to his feet. “I need to get home. See you tomorrow.”

“Glad to be of service, My Lady.” He bowed dramatically and stepped backwards off the rooftop to begin vaulting through Paris to wherever he lived.

Ladybug swung through the city and landed on her balcony, dropping her transformation as she did so. She climbed down into her room and plugged her phone in to charge. There was a voicemail from Nino.

“ _ Hey M, sorry I didn’t call you back sooner, I spaced. I dunno how late you’ll be up, but if you get this message before midnight, feel free to call me back. _ ”

Marinette couldn’t help but laugh. While she had been panicking to Chat Noir about not receiving a call, she missed it.

It was a few minutes after midnight, so Marinette locked her phone and told herself that she would call him in the morning before she quickly drifted off to sleep.

- - -

Saturday mornings were Nino’s favorite. He would wake up early, walk around the still-sleeping neighborhood, and listen to his favorite artist, and when he got home, his dad would always have breakfast ready for the family.

Apparently Hawk Moth liked Saturday mornings too.

An Akuma was already rampaging the streets of Paris at--oh gosh, eight thirty in the morning. Nino rolled his eyes and started running toward the commotion, texting his dad that he had gotten caught on the other side of the battle and he would be late getting back.

“Wayzz,” he called as soon as he jumped behind a building, “Shell up.”

He didn’t notice that he dropped his phone.

- - -

Marinette had already dialed Nino’s number when she realized there was an Akuma, but Paris would survive a minute more while she was on the phone. She bounced in anticipation more than she walked down the street as the line rang. And rang. And rang. And--

As she rounded a corner, she heard something buzzing on the ground, and when she looked down, her own face was on the screen. And her name. She was calling that phone.

“Oh gosh,” she muttered, hanging up and grabbing Nino’s phone to put in her purse. As Tikki flew up to eye level, Marinette told her, “He must’ve dropped it running from the Akuma. Guess we’ll just have to give Nino his phone back in person after this battle. Tikki, spots on.”

- - -

The battle was short, and Nino returned home as soon as it was over, not wanting either of his siblings to eat all the eggs before he even got home.

“I texted you asking if you wanted me to get the car to pick you up,” his older sister Sasha told him. “I could’ve gotten you before the food got cold.”

“Really?” Nino knew that he wouldn’t have gotten the texts anyway when he was transformed, shielding Chat Noir from getting turned into a paper doll, but he hadn’t yet checked his phone. He reached into his pocket, only to find it empty. Panicked, Nino stood and patted himself down, searching for the missing device.

“And you dropped it,” Sasha sighed. “Nice going.”

Nino groaned and leaned his elbows on the table, head in his hands. He had missed texts from his sister,  _ and _ he was waiting on a call from Marinette. There was no possible way this could go right.

A knock sounded at the door, and Sasha stubbornly refused to answer it, so Nino dragged himself up and opened the door, instantly revitalizing the moment he saw his pigtailed classmate behind it.

“Hey Nino,” she greeted, a pink blush dusting her cheeks. “Um, I was walking around this morning, and when I was looking for a safe place to hide during the attack, I came across your phone. I would’ve announced myself before coming over, but I couldn’t call because I...had your phone…”

He took it from her gratefully. “Thanks, I had no idea I even dropped it.” A moment of silence passed between them, both looking down at their shoes to avoid eye contact.

“So, um…” Marinette glanced up at him. “About what I wanted to say yesterday when I called you…”

“Yes!” he replied, a little too eager for  _ anything  _ to fill the silence. “Yeah, what’s up?”

Marinette squared her shoulders and gained a determined look on her face--it was almost scary. If she hadn’t been obviously trying to work up confidence, he would have thought she seemed a lot like Ladybug in that moment.

“I want to go out with you,” she stated. “On a date. You don’t have to say yes. But I like you and I want to go on a date with you.”

Nino stared at her silently. That was why she had seemed so anxious on the phone, and why she was acting so strangely in front of him. He could have sworn that she liked Adrien, so he had written off his crush as a lost cause and had been trying to keep himself from giving in to her cuteness. He never would have guessed that he was the one she had been crushing on.

Marinette crumpled, her hands covering her beet-red face as she started giving a stream of apologies about how she shouldn’t have said anything, he could completely ignore it, she understood if he didn’t want to be friends anymore.

“Hey, wait, no,” Nino insisted, pulling her hands away from her face. She wouldn’t look up at him, so he leaned down to look at her. “You just surprised me is all. I totally want to go out with you, I just thought you liked my man Adrien, and what kind of friend would I be if I was trying to get with the girl who liked my best friend?”

Her eyes shot up to meet his. “I--what? I mean, I  _ did _ , but he’s clearly not interested, so I got over that months ago. But--you really want to? Go on a date?”

Nino laughed and said, “Yeah. I really do.”


	5. Zoo

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marinette and Nino's zoo date gets rained out.

“I can’t believe this,” Marinette moaned when they got to shelter from the rain under a shop’s awning. “We try to go on a date, and it’s the one day we get unexpected rain.”

Nino laughed, putting his arm gently around Marinette. “It’s okay. Just being with you is all that matters to me.” With a grin, he added, “I didn’t expect the zoo to work very well anyway, since the first time I tried to go on a date with you there didn’t work. I said I liked Alya and then an Akuma attacked.”

Marinette fell quiet, thinking back to the day Alya’s father was Akumatized into Animan. Nino had admitted later on that he intended to confess feelings for her, but abandoned the idea; at the time, she had been grateful, as it gave her an opportunity to see if Adrien would notice her. A part of Marinette felt bad that things hadn’t worked out between Nino and Alya, but at least they were still friends--and Marinette was able to move on from her previous crush and come back down to earth. What was better than a relationship with someone she had known for years?

But their first time to the zoo got ruined, and now they were mutually, actively trying to go on a date, and fate had other plans. Was it just...not meant to work out? Was it worth it to try? Was this relentless rain just a sign that their relationship was doomed?

“Mari?”

Nino’s voice brought her back to reality. He was looking down at her, concern etched into his features, and she made herself smile at him.

“Sorry,” she said, leaning into him. He tightened the arm around her shoulders. “Zoned out, I guess. What should we do, since the zoo is out of the question?”

“Hmm…” He gazed out at the rain. “We could go get smoothies. I'd suggest a movie, but I want to actually spend time with you, not just sit next to you while we ignore each other.”

Marinette felt herself redden. If he still wanted to have a real date, then maybe they weren't doomed. 

“Yeah,” she replied. “A smoothie sounds good.”

“Ready to run?” he asked, his hand moving from her shoulder to her hand. 

She nodded, squeezing his hand. They bolted out into the rain, running from awning to awning, their laughter growing with each sprint. By the time they reached the shop, they were both laughing too hard to properly run, and allowed themselves to get soaked. Nino practically tackled Marinette to the covering, embracing her tightly. She giggled as he lifted her off the ground to spin with her, holding onto him as though her life depended on it.

“Nino!” she squeaked as they started getting rained on again. “You're gonna slip!”

He set her down and beamed at her, pulling her through the door to get their smoothies.

“What kind do you want?” Marinette asked, wringing out her pigtails. “I'm buying. I asked you out, after all.”

Nino looked over the menu thoughtfully, taking his hat off and shaking the water out. “I think I'm gonna get the kiwi and spinach one.” With a grin, he asked, “What about you?”

Marinette gaped at him. “You know that one's like, ninety percent spinach, right? It's not good. They lull you into a false sense of security with the kiwi and its smoothie nature, but it's just a trick to feed you tons of spinach.”

Laughing, Nino replied, “I know what it tastes like, 'Nette. It's my favorite.”

Her jaw dropped. “Nino, I once saw you eat a family sized bag of Doritos by yourself in one sitting. Who are you and what have you done with my Nino?” She poked at his cheeks.

“I love healthy food!” He kept laughing while swatting at her hands. “Yeah, every so often I eat way too many Doritos, but for the most part? It's all veggies and vitamin-packed smoothies.”

Huffing as they stepped up to place their order, Marinette muttered, “That's why you're my only friend who barely comes by the bakery…”

They sat down with their smoothies, Marinette still in disbelief.

“If you eat like that all the time, then we can't be together,” she stated seriously. “My family owns a bakery. My life revolves around sweets.”

“So does mine.” He tapped her nose. “A sweet named Marinette.”

She felt her cheeks flush and sank down to bury her face in her arms. “You dork. Stop being so cute.”

“You stop first and maybe I'll think about it.”


	6. First Kiss

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marinette and Nino get a wake-up call about the dangers of heroism. Angst ahead.

Akuma attacks weren’t a big deal anymore. At the most, they were a minor inconvenience. A small hiccup in Paris’s day-to-day life. There was never any damage to worry about because the Miraculous Cure would fix everything. Few Akuma victims had lasting emotional effects because they had no memory of the traumatic event. Alerts systems had been put into place to get the attention of both citizens and heroes, letting everyone know where the danger was. No one had seen Hawk Moth. Few feared him, because Paris’s band of superheroes would stop his threats every time. Even the few Parisians who had died when struck by an Akuma villain were unconcerned. Ladybug would fix everything. As long as she was around, it would be fine.

Marinette tore through the streets of Paris, frantically searching for a place to transform. There was mild commotion everywhere she turned--people were nervous, moving away from the Akuma, but not quickly enough. Marinette could only go against the flow of foot traffic so much before people noticed that she was the only one without a camera who was heading toward the attack. Among her friends, she was notorious for being terrified of Akumas and hiding as quickly as she could. Usually, she could find somewhere to safely transform much more quickly than she could today. If these people would just be a little more concerned and leave a little more quickly….

She slipped into an alley, hoping that nobody would see her. Of course, people were steadily passing by each end of the alley, looking in at her as they passed. Marinette groaned and bolted through to the other side, continuing to run toward the danger.

“Come on,” she muttered, approaching the destruction. “Come _ on _ !” Sides of buildings were anywhere from charred to completely disintegrated. The alert she had gotten on her phone had “deadly lasers” listed as the main power. Marinette really wished that people would be afraid of the Akumas, especially ones like these. Everything getting fixed meant Miraculous Cure had to actually _ happen _ . Ladybug had to be there, not Marinette.

The Akuma was in sight, and she still hadn't found anywhere safe to transform. She spun around, looking furiously for anywhere to become Ladybug. 

“MARINETTE! LOOK OUT!”

Before she could finish turning, she saw the green beams rocketing toward her--she wasn't transformed--she didn't have Ladybug's invulnerability-- _ deadly lasers _ \--

She flinched, too panicked to get her feet to move. 

The lasers never made contact.

Marinette opened her eyes and saw her savior. Carapace had his shield in front of him, deflecting the lasers. But Killer Look was persistent. They were slowly approaching, lasers pushing against Carapace's shield. He was losing his footing.

“Get out of here,” he strained. “You shouldn't be here. Get yourself to safety--now!”

“No, Carapace, I can't leave you!”

“Bee’s got this, and Chat Noir is on his way. Now go!”

Her instincts as Ladybug told her to do everything except leave. She couldn’t just abandon her friend. But he didn’t see her as his friend, he saw her as Marinette, the girl whose name he probably only knew because of how many times they’ve needed to protect her as a civilian.

She was Marinette. She needed to be Ladybug. She had to leave.

“I’m sorry,” she choked, scrambling away toward a nearby intact building. It should be evacuated by now.

As she sprinted, she heard Carapace shout, and then a shriek of pain. She skidded to a stop to see him writhing on the ground, his abdomen charred. She nearly ran back toward him to help, but kept going in the opposite direction until she was out of sight, tears running down her cheeks as she told Tikki “Spots on.”

- - -

Nino had already been nearby when Killer Look began their destruction. He was the first one on the scene, and Queen Bee arrived less than two minutes later. It was easy enough to protect himself with his shield, and Bee could handle herself. Civilians had cleared out, and it was just a matter of trying knock the glasses off Killer Look’s face while waiting for Ladybug and Chat Noir to arrive.

And then there was Marinette.

She ran directly onto the scene and spun a few times, searching for something Carapace wasn’t sure of. Why was she here? She should have cleared out with all the other civilians. She was going to get hurt, it wasn’t safe for her to be around a deadly Akuma, especially when Ladybug wasn’t on the scene yet.

The moment he saw Killer Look targeting Marinette, he leaped into action, hoping that Bee would keep them distracted while he got Marinette to safety, but he had no such luck. Queen Bee was agitating Killer Look by zapping them with her weapon, yet they continued to focus all their energy on Carapace and Marinette. The lasers were strong, and Carapace was simply thankful that the Miraculous magic made his shield indestructible.

“Get out of here,” he begged. He couldn’t forgive himself if Marinette got hurt. “You shouldn't be here. Get yourself to safety--now!”

“No, Carapace, I can't leave you!” Dread washed over him. It would be reassuring to hear that from a fellow hero, but from the civilian he was desperately in love with--he couldn’t bear it.

“Bee’s got this, and Chat Noir is on his way,” he insisted, trying to fight tears that wanted to give him away. “Now go!”

She did. She apologized and she ran. Just as Carapace was allowing himself to feel a shred of relief, Killer Look’s attack on him stopped, and the villain grinned a malicious grin, shifting their attention back onto Marinette.

“No!” Carapace jumped between Killer Look and Marinette, just in time, and took the blow. He miscalculated his angle, and instead of deflecting the attack, the lasers tore directly through his middle, charring the wound closed. He screamed and fell to the ground, praying that Killer wouldn’t go straight back to Marinette. Thank goodness she was still running.

Queen Bee, enraged, sent a strong surge of electricity through the Akuma victim, bringing them to their knees temporarily. It bought just enough time for Chat Noir and a distraught Ladybug to enter the scene.

The next thing Nino remembered was the Miraculous Cure fading and the wound on his side disappearing. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes, lying peacefully on the ground while his friends fawned over him, Ladybug giving him a particularly distressed lecture about how he shouldn’t do things that are such a detriment...or something like that.

Somehow, he got himself home, and saw that only about a quarter of the news footage covered the Akuma and the results of the fight. The other three quarters were Carapace taking a hit for an ordinary high school girl.

- - -

Marinette couldn’t stop crying. She had made sure she wouldn’t get any news on her computer or her phone. The only thing stations wanted to talk about was Carapace’s intense protection of her. As far as he knew, Carapace was barely even familiar with her. He didn’t know she was Ladybug. He had no reason to take that hit for her. He shouldn’t have. Sure, the Cure had healed him, but it was her fault. If she had just transformed sooner, if she hadn’t drawn the attention of that angry victim, Carapace would have been fine.

“Marinette?” Her mother’s voice softly floated from the trap door up to her bed. “Nino’s here to see you.”

Oh, great. Nino seeing her like this was the last thing she needed. She sniffed and sat up, using her sleeve to mop up her tears as she slowly made her way down from her bed.

Nino’s worried face appeared and he looked around the dark room, his eyes landing on Marinette as she settled on the chaise. He crawled into her room and shut the trap door so they could have some privacy.

“Hey, ‘Nette,” he greeted her quietly, sitting beside her and slipping an arm around her shoulders. “Are you alright? That must’ve been scary.”

She curled up and leaned against him. “ _ I’m  _ fine. But it was my fault that Carapace got hurt. I know that the heroes try to keep damage minimal until Ladybug shows up and they know they’ll have the Miraculous Cure to fix things. And I just ran in there like an idiot. I can’t believe I endangered everyone like that. Everything gets harder and worse when there’s a civilian in the middle of the fight. I  _ know _ that. I can’t believe I did it.” Another sob escaped her lips.

“No, hey, it’s okay.” Nino hugged her tightly. “Everything’s alright. Ladybug was there. She purified the Akuma, the Cure worked. Carapace is fine. He knew what he was doing. He’s the protection of the group, yeah? That’s his whole thing, he’ll take a hit to save someone else. He wouldn’t have let you get hit, even if you begged.”

Marinette wiped more tears from her eyes as she fell into Nino’s lap, allowing him to see her puffy, tearstained face. “What if Ladybug hadn’t been there? Nino, I would have been responsible for  _ killing Carapace _ . He’s my frie--hero. He’s my  _ hero _ , and it would have been my fault.”

“Shh…” Nino wasn’t sure what to say. He wanted to let himself be bashful, slyly accept the compliment for himself, but Marinette was right. Ladybug hadn’t yet shown up, and she didn’t answer any calls. There wasn’t much telling that she  _ would _ be there. But she had been there. She had used the Cure and made sure he was alright and lectured him. She had made things okay. 

Though Marinette sobbing in his lap told him that things were very much not okay.

He ran his fingers through her dark hair, brushing her bangs off her forehead. “Carapace is alive. Ladybug confirmed that the Cure healed him. But I’m sure he’s just glad that  _ you’re _ alive. I don’t know what I would do if I--if  _ he _ had let you get hit. Watching you die would kill me.”

She cried quietly for a few more minutes, hiccuping every so often. Whenever it seemed like her hiccups had subsided and she might have fallen asleep, she hiccupped again. Nino couldn’t help but chuckle.

“I’ll get you some water,” he told her. “All that crying must’ve dehydrated you.”

Marinette nodded, so Nino slipped out from under her and opened the trap door, flooding the room with light. His eyes adjusted and he went downstairs to get water for her. A worried Mr. Dupain asked how she was doing and Nino assured him that she was improving, she just needed a bit longer. He went back upstairs once Sabine finished rambling about survivor’s guilt.

“Sit up,” he said, kneeling on the floor and nudging her shoulder. “Don’t want to drown while hydrating.”

She obeyed and her hand immediately went to her head. Taking the water, she muttered, “Guess you were right about needing water.” She drank slowly, and Nino took the glass back when she had finished.

“I should probably leave,” he concluded, standing. “It’s getting late.”

Marinette reached out and grabbed the hem of his shirt, staring at her lap without saying anything. Tentatively, he knelt back down and waited for her to voice what she wanted to say.

“I don’t want to be alone,” she admitted. “I saw someone I admire nearly die today. I want to keep you close. Otherwise, I’ll just...imagine all sorts of awful things.” She paused. “I hate getting wake-up calls that...either of us could die tomorrow. So...I don’t want to be alone tonight.”

Nino nodded and held her hand. “Then I’ll go downstairs while you get into your pajamas, and I’ll let both our parents know I’m staying the night. Is that okay?” She gave a nod of her own, and he went back downstairs to text his mom and talk with Marinette’s parents again. He was so glad that they were relaxed and trusted them.

“Is it okay if I sleep on your chaise?” Nino asked when she invited him back upstairs.

“No.” He raised an eyebrow. “Come up here. If...that’s okay with you.”

He couldn’t hide his surprise. “Oh! Uh...okay, yeah I can do that.”

Nino climbed up the stairs and joined Marinette in her bed. She scooted to the side and folded the blankets back for him and he settled down under them, laying on his side to face her.

“I know you feel guilty about what happened today,” he whispered. “But I want you to know that I’m really happy you’re here, and you’re alive. We’ve got some pretty great heroes that made sure of that. So because we don’t know how much time either of us have left…” He took a deep breath. “I’m not gonna go another day without you knowing that I love you, Marinette.”

Her blue eyes went wide and Nino flushed brightly enough that it was visible in the dark. He fought back the urge to babble about how she didn’t need to feel pressured to say it too, he didn’t mean to make her uncomfortable. It was true. He loved her.

Shifting closer to him, Marinette whispered, “I love you too, Nino.” She placed a hand on the back of his neck and kissed him softly. “I want to spend as much time with you as I can. You’re worth every moment.”

Nino grinned and wrapped his arms around her. As they nodded off to sleep, he murmured one last quiet, “I love you.”


	7. Baking

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Don't worry, we're back to fluff. Nino makes cupcakes for Marinette. They're terrible.

“MARINETTE!”

Nino slammed the trap door open and Marinette screamed and jumped, nearly falling out of her desk chair. She turned to him, surprised, with a semblance of a smile on her face.

“Nino!” she laughed, gathering her fabric from her lap and onto her desk. “You didn’t tell me you were coming over! What’s up?”

He climbed the last few steps and held a pair of DVDs in one hand and a tray of cupcakes in the other. With a huge grin, he stated, “We’re living every day to the fullest now, right? Well, what’s better than a movie marathon and homemade cupcakes?”

“Aww!” Marinette stood and took the cupcakes from him to place on her desk. “You shouldn’t have. You’re too cute.” She took his arm and planted a kiss on his cheek. 

“Well, I did, and now we’ve got cupcakes to eat and movies to watch.” He held the DVDs out to her. “Do you want to start with  _ Vigilante Love  _ or  _ Ultimate Space Battle _ ?”

Marinette thought for a moment, looking between the cases.  _ Vigilante Love _ pictured a masked couple on a rooftop, one clad in red, the other in green.  _ Ultimate Space Battle _ had explosions and a distressed girl piloting away from the damage. Deciding the first movie reminded her a little too much of a pair of heroes she knew, she plucked  _ Ultimate Space Battle _ from Nino’s hands and opened the DVD port on her computer.

“Excellent choice,” Nino commented. “I thought you would’ve gone for the other one first.”

She shook her head. “I’m always down for a good space battle. I’ve seen  _ Galaxy Wars _ so many times.” Nino’s expression as she grabbed a cupcake and sat back was everything she wanted it to be.

“I’m sorry,” he said, “but if you can’t even properly name  _ Star Wars _ and you’re claiming to like it, then we can’t be together.”

“That’s what I said about your eating habits, yet here we are.” She bit into her cupcake.

Apparently her own expression was just as good to Nino as his had been to her. Nino laughed so hard that he doubled over, choking in laughter.

“What did you  _ do _ ?” Marinette screeched, looking in horror at the cupcake--if it could even be called that.

“I just made cupcakes!” Nino defended, wiping tears from his eyes. “I swear, I just made regular cupcakes!”

“Did you--what did--” She sputtered, trying to identify what was wrong. “Did you just, like, pick your own wheat and stick it in there as flour?”

Nino snorted and sat up, trying to calm himself. “What? No, of course not, they’re gluten-free.”

Marinette narrowed her eyes. “Okay...so it’s not a  _ real _ pastry, but go off, I guess. How much sugar did you use?”

“None.”

“You WHAT?”

Holding his hands up in defense, Nino chuckled, “Calm down, Mari, applesauce can be used as a substitute for sugar. It’s a natural, healthier sweetener, and it tastes great!”

“You--I can’t believe….No.” She stood up and grabbed his wrist, dragging him toward the trap door. “Movie marathon is cancelled. You and I are going to make some  _ proper _ cupcakes, filled with gluten and sugar.”

Marinette was too determined and Nino was laughing too hard to explain to Tom and Sabine exactly why Marinette was so aggressively baking and making absolutely certain that Nino was following along with each step.

- - -

“There you are!”

Ladybug stopped and turned to see Carapace--intact, happy, and running toward her. She grinned and waited for him to catch up to her.

“What’re you doing out?” she questioned. “It’s my night for patrol, you’re not on until Tuesday.”

“I just wanted to bring you this!” He held up a brown paper bag. “My girlfriend took it upon herself to teach me how to make proper cupcakes today. There were so many--I took some home for my family, and I set some aside for all you guys.” 

“How sweet!” Ladybug took the paper bag and opened it to peek in. Her breath caught when she looked at the icing decoration. It was her logo--red with five black spots. Normally, she wouldn’t think twice about it. This time, her mind flashed to the cupcakes she had made with Nino. They had decorated a whole batch for the five heroes, and he had taken some of them home. 

Taking a step toward her, Carapace put a gentle hand on her arm. “Ladybug? You alright?”

She looked up into his concerned brown eyes. Familiar brown eyes. She couldn’t stop herself from reaching out and gently touching his cheek with her fingertips.

“Nino?”

His eyes widened and he grabbed the hand on his face. “I...Marinette?”

They stared at each other for a moment before Ladybug threw her arms around Carapace and squealed.

“I’m so glad it’s you,” Carapace whispered, hugging her tightly.

Ladybug squeezed him tightly. “We’ll protect each other from now on. You’re worth it. You’re worth my every moment.”


End file.
